Pensioner About To Be Kicked From Her Long Term Home.

[Ethel Street]

4 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

For a fee of £3, anyone can check the ownership of a property at the HMRC website, Sod'em. Hopefully your friend hasn't signed over the house, this will make things clearer.

 

@SOD'EMIs  your friend able to do this and find out who is the registered owner at the Land Registry?  You  have to do it online and pay £3 but you get a copy of the Land Registry ownership information instantly which you download as a pdf. If your friend is unable to do this herself would you be willing to do it for her and share with us here what it says (deleting personal details and address)?

 

This is the page you need  Property Search - Land Registry

 

Having a copy of that entry will be important to take with  her when she sees a solicitor for legal advice. 

 

As well as paying all of the mortgage has your friend also paid all the household bills and running costs?

 

I think she is very likely to have legal protection  but it's essential she finds a solicitor for an initial free advice session. 

 

And she must not move out of the house even if her daughter tells her to. Not without getting legal advice first.

 

Has the daughter siad what she expects her mother to do when the house is sold? Is she planning to just leave her on the street homeless? Or find her somewhere else to live?

[Ethel Street]

5 minutes ago, honeybee13 said:

Ethel, I was meaning the online check. Last time I did one it cost £3.

 

HB

 

So was I 

 

It still costs £3

[Ethel Street]

I still recommend she spends £3 to get a copy of the Land Registry entry. It's very important for her to know exactly what it says.

 

If your friend is the registered owner at the Land Registry the house cannot be sold without her consent. If the daughter isn't the registered owner she can't sell it. It's irrelevant whose name the mortgage is in.So your friend must not sign any forms about the house without getting legal advice.

 

The daughter might try and get her mother to transfer ownership to her.  Is that what was meant by "her Daughter has said that if she tries to intervene in the sale, she cannot see her Grandson"? That unless she agrees to transfer the house she'll never see her grandson again? That' something else she should tell the solicitor when she sees them. An agreeement made under duress may not be legally valid anyway.

 

Offering to let her stay there for 12 months after the sale is just adding insult to injury. It's not an offer to help your friend, it's to help the daughter raise money quickly. It would  result in your friend being thrown out of the house she's lived in for 30 years in a year's time and left on the streets by the new owner. She must not agree to it without taking legal advice.

[Ethel Street]

If she won't help herself there's not much else we can advise on here. 

 

This isn't just a legal matter about property law.

 

Let's be clear, everything you've told us points to her being a vulnerable adult who is a victim of domestic abuse - financial abuse - from her daughter. That's potentially a criminal offence. It appears she is being forced into giving up her house and her legal rights by daughter using coercive threats that she will never see her grandchildren again unless she does what her daughter is directing her to do. 

 

There are other sources of help she could seek out if she won't talk to a lawyer. Citizen's Advice is one. Another is Adult Social Services at her local council. Or the police. You could make a referral to the police or social servcies if she won't.

 

You need to do some research on financial abuse of older people. These sites are helpful

 

Financial abuse | Hourglass (wearehourglass.org) There's an Hourglass helpline you could call: 0808 808 8141

 

Protect yourself and loved ones from elderly abuse | Age UK   There's an Age UK Helpline you could call - 0800 678 1174